Dead Island: Epidemic

What is Dead Island Epidemic? Well, this is probably the most forgotten game in the series and if you do not remember it, do not feel bad. Dead Island Epidemic was a game that never made it past the beta phase. Still, this is a game that a lot of people actually played before the game was shut down.

Dead Island, But Not as You Know It

Dead Island Epidemic is technically the third game in the series, but while it shares the Dead Island name and some of the same characters. This is very unlike Dead Island and Riptide. The reason that I say that is this is a top down MOBA style of game and not the first person action/shooter that you know and love.

It is actually quite a clever idea and you have a team of four human players taking on hordes of monsters. While taking down the zombies and surviving is, of course, the name of the game. Dead Island Epidemic would throw special objectives your way on certain missions.

It is not just the creatures that you had to worry about as there were other teams of survivors that wanted the same resources you did! This added an extra element of strategy that made the game really make you think as you were playing it.

Hey, Who Are You?

John from the first game is back and he appears on another island, but he thinks that this island will be safe…. Of course, it is not! This island is overrun by zombies and all other kinds of monsters and he thinks that his luck has run out. He is actually saved by a group of survivors who are actually infected with the virus themselves.

These guys though are not mindless monsters, instead, the virus has just made them stronger! This was a very cool idea and one that I would like to see return. Like other MOBA games, Dead Island Epidemic had a great selection of characters and one very interesting idea was that the characters had three versions. Survivor, Armored and Mutated. You could unlock characters as you played which helped keep you moving forward.

Bringing the Dead Back Together

The monsters that you encounter in the game will feel very familiar if you have played the other two Dead Island games that came before this. There is a great selection such as Walkers, Floaters, Screamers, Suiciders, and Rams. They also made a new one called The Puller which was actually really cool and creepy and it looked like some kind of deranged lizard.

Pros:

• A very interesting take on the Dead Island series
• The monsters looked awesome
• Plenty of characters for you to chose from
• Gameplay made you think
• Expanded the lore quite cleverly

Cons:

• The game was never fully finished
• Gameplay was perhaps too different to the main series

More than a few of your right now will be wondering what is Dead Island: Epidemic? Well if you thought that Dead Island Survivors was the only spin-off game in the Dead Island franchise, think again! Dead Island: Epidemic is a MOBA game that sadly never made it outside of its beta phase, but it still has a die-hard following.

The Story

For a MOBA that is based on a first-person shooter series, Dead Island: Epidemic actually has a really cool story. The game features John from the original Dead Island and once again he finds himself trapped on an island filled with zombies and other weird stuff. Even worse is that there are other groups of survivors willing to kill other people to get all of the supplies for themselves. John meets new survivors on the way and before long he is with a group that is willing to do anything to survive.

The Presentation

You may think that as Dead Island: Epidemic is a MOBA style game that the visuals will have taken a hit and be super zoomed out. Well, that is not actually the case, this game looks great. The best thing about it for me is the different types of zombies (or if you prefer monsters) that the game has.

These look amazing and I love how the special kind of zombies each have a very unique look to them. The different maps that you will be playing on have plenty of little details in them too. It would have been cool to see just how good this game could have looked had they gotten it out of the beta!

The Gameplay

Dead Island: Epidemic is a game that requires you and three other survivors to, well survive. You have wave after wave of monsters to worry about. Some missions do have extra objectives for you to complete as well as worrying about surviving. One of the things that makes, Dead Island: Epidemic even more troublesome is the other group of survivors! That is right as well as the creatures, other survivors are willing to kill for the resources that the map has. This makes things even more dangerous and exciting and it would have been amazing to see how this could have developed.

The character selection in Dead Island: Epidemic is great and one of the most interesting things about the characters is that they are infected! This is a really cool concept as it means that they have extra powers, but not at the expense of them turning into mindless killing machines.

It is really neat how you can have a survivor, armored and mutated version of a character. This keeps you playing and makes you want to level up as many characters as possible. Unlocking characters as you progressed was actually really cool.

Final Thoughts On Dead Island: Epidemic

This was such a great idea! I really wish that Dead Island: Epidemic had taken off and that they had stuck with it as there are some great ideas here. The official servers are down these days, but you can still play it thanks to some very hardcore fans. It may not be what you expect from a game with the Dead Island name, but this is one very fun MOBA!

7/10

Pros:

• The plot is actually really cool
• I love the different creatures in the game
• Lots of interesting characters to play as
• The gameplay is fast-paced, but also strategic
• The mutated versions of your characters are really cool

Cons:

• It is certainly not like the other two Dead Island games
• Official servers are gone